6 April 2026 has been and gone and, based on recent figures from HMRC, the majority of taxpayers that should have registered for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax didn't.
From the 2026/27 tax year, beginning 6 April 2026, people who made more than £50,000 in the last year from self-employment and/or property businesses fell under the scope of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. But HMRC's figures show that fewer than 30% of the taxpayers expected to sign up actually did so: just 218,000 out of the expected 864,000 by the middle of April.
HMRC have been quoted as saying that they “are encouraging all customers who were required to sign up by April 6 to do so as soon as possible.” They have also confirmed that there will be no penalty for missing the April deadline - but that is for the 2026/27 tax year only, and only for MTD-compliance (you still need to pay tax and file tax returns as usual).
From next year HMRC will use a points system in which each quarterly update or tax return deadline missed will be met with a penalty point, and collecting 4 points gets a £200 fine. After that, each further missed deadline attracts another £200 fine.
Requirements and exemptions
Those that need to comply with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax regulations from 6 April 2026 are, broadly, those who in the period 6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025 had revenue from their self-employments and/or property businesses of over £50,000.
There are, however, exemptions that can postpone when you need to be compliant from, or in some case permanently remove the requirement to follow, the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax rules. The exemptions available are provided by HMRC here together with details of which exemptions require an application. If of interest, you can find out how to apply for the exemptions here. If an exemption applies you will not currently need to sign up.
How to register
If you meet the requirements for the 2026/27 tax year, and you don't fall under any of the circumstances where an exemption can apply, then HMRC say that you should now register for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax if not done so already.
You can sign up using this HMRC link. As part of the sign up process you're likely to need the following information/documentation:
- Your government gateway/personal tax account user ID and password. (If you don't have one you can create one when following the link)
- 2 of the following:
- Passport
- Credit reference
- Driving licence
- Latest Self-Assessment return, P60
- A recent payslip
- The start date for your rental or self-employment businesses (if this is within the last 2 years)
- The tax year you will start using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from
- (Sole trader only) – Your business name
- (Sole trader only) – Your business address
- (Sole trader only) – The nature of your business i.e. what trade do you run
If you have an accountant that submits tax returns on your behalf they can register you for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for you. Registration by an accountant does not prohibit you from filing the returns personally.
More information
You can find more information in our full Making Tax Digital for Income Tax guide here.
Should you require any assistance with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and remaining compliant, please get in touch with Alistair Grant via Alistair.Grant@ct.me, your usual CT contact at CT or the wider tax team via personaltax@ct.me.
